SALT LAKE CITY -- An extended sportsmans' hunt for big game would return to Antelope Island as part of one lawmaker's plan to bring more revenue to the state.
Rep. Michael Noel, R-Kanab, said Tuesday he will propose allowing more public hunting on the island.
"There is really no natural predator out there," the Ogden native said.
The initial proposal includes hunting deer and bighorn sheep.
The state already allows a very limited and controlled hunt for bison.
"Seems to me, picking up several hundred thousand dollars a year ... is worth looking at with this year's extreme financial condition," Noel said.
In years past, this type of hunting proposal for the island has been tried and rejected.
The Western Wildlife Conservancy has opposed such a plan in the past.
"More people would probably want Antelope Island to be a safety enclave for the animals," said Kirk Robinson, executive director of the WWC.
Pronghorn antelope, porcupine, badger, coyote, bobcat and waterfowl also live on the island.
But Robinson said a very limited hunt with funds earmarked to help wildlife might be more acceptable to his group.
Noel has not released details of his proposal.
The Kane County lawmaker first publicly mentioned the hunt at a Monday budget hearing.
In its history, the island has been home to big-game hunting, particularly bison.
One well-known private hunt in 1926, according to various records of the time, attracted champion boxer Jack Dempsey to Antelope Island.
Historians also wrote that the 1926 hunt nearly decimated the bison herd, at that time in private ownership.
The island and the herds are now under the control and ownership of the state.
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